Published: Sunday, March 10, 2013 at 12:45 AM.

Mason Plumlee completed what Curry started and No. 3 Duke made most of the second half a formality against North Carolina.

No. 3 Duke dismantled host North Carolina 69-53 in an Atlantic Coast Conference game that the Blue Devils never led by less than 14 in the second half. Curry scored 18 points in the first half on his way to a 20-point night.

“Seth’s performance, he was just the best player on the court in the first half,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “In the second half, we had the best player on the court in Mason.”

Plumlee scored 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds in the second half, giving him totals of 23 points and 13 rebounds. It was his first double-double in four games.

“(Curry’s) shooting really got us out in front and we never really looked back,” Plumlee said. “Our defense was there as a team, but offensively he was just slicing them up.”

Both teams were locked into seeds for the ACC Tournament before the game started, with Duke (27-4 overall, 14-4 ACC) as the second seed and North Carolina the third seed. North Carolina captured the third seed by way of North Carolina State’s earlier loss against Florida State.

Mason Plumlee completed what Curry started and No. 3 Duke made most of the second half a formality against North Carolina.

No. 3 Duke dismantled host North Carolina 69-53 in an Atlantic Coast Conference game that the Blue Devils never led by less than 14 in the second half. Curry scored 18 points in the first half on his way to a 20-point night.

“Seth’s performance, he was just the best player on the court in the first half,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “In the second half, we had the best player on the court in Mason.”

Plumlee scored 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds in the second half, giving him totals of 23 points and 13 rebounds. It was his first double-double in four games.

“(Curry’s) shooting really got us out in front and we never really looked back,” Plumlee said. “Our defense was there as a team, but offensively he was just slicing them up.”

Both teams were locked into seeds for the ACC Tournament before the game started, with Duke (27-4 overall, 14-4 ACC) as the second seed and North Carolina the third seed. North Carolina captured the third seed by way of North Carolina State’s earlier loss against Florida State.

Saturday night’s game was a systematic annihilation that saw Duke score the first 14 points before three minutes had elapsed. For the rest of the game, the Blue Devils’ lead dipped under 10 once, at 14-5 with 15:04 left in the first half.

While Duke jumped out to the equivalent of a two-touchdown lead (with both extra points converted) before North Carolina got on the board, Curry never stopped to admire the Blue Devils’ work on the scoreboard.

“You just keep playing. You know they’re explosive, you know they can come back so you just keep playing, keep doing what you’re doing to be successful to start the game,” Curry said after the game. “You look back on the game now. We just wanted to keep putting it on them.”

North Carolina was within 14 at 63-49 with five minutes left but, like every time before, Duke had the right formula to answer. The final back-breakers came on a couple driving layups by Quinn Cook, the first of which came after an offensive rebound gave Duke a 53-second possession. Cook finished with 12 points.

Duke put on a shooting clinic in the first half, making 18 of 26 shots. Curry made his first seven shots, highlighted by a 3, a couple mid-range jumpers and one with the senior guard nearly on the ground. He even had time to go through a scoring drought of nine minutes before hitting a 3-pointer with 1:07 before halftime.

“Seth, when you’ve got a guy who has a hot hand like that, you’ve got to try to keep getting him the ball,” Krzyzewski said. “And our guys do that. They’re unselfish.”

In the second half — one that Krzyzewski called “a man’s half” — Plumlee scored Duke’s first 10 points, converting a couple traditional 3-point plays and further burying an unranked North Carolina team that was favored to win, according to some oddsmakers.

“At halftime, I was telling them we’ve had games over at Cameron (Indoor Stadium) where we’ve been down like that and then we’ve come back and won,” Plumlee said, “so we knew the game wasn’t over, especially with a high-scoring team like that.

“Overall I just thought we did a great job coming out in the second half.”

One reason for the Tar Heels’ lackluster offensive performance was the shutdown of Reggie Bullock, who was held to eight points after averaging more than 18 in his previous four games. Krzyzewski opted to start guard Tyler Thornton on Bullock, which clearly bothered the Tar Heels junior.

“I think Bullock is one of the best players in the country, not just the conference,” Krzyzewski said. “He’s just a terrific basketball player. We needed somebody who was going to make him work and hopefully make it difficult for him and Tyler had that assignment.”

Duke’s stellar offensive display came with a limited performance from Ryan Kelly. The senior, in his third game back from an ankle injury, picked up three fouls in the first half and finished with eight points.

But his presence was felt on the defensive end.

“We’re just a much better defensive team with (Kelly) in,” Krzyzewski said. “And they missed some shots. … You’ve got to be fortunate when that happens. But he helped us more defensively than offensively.”

-- TIP INS …: Duke has won six of the last eight meetings against North Carolina. … James Michael McAdoo led North Carolina with 15 points, scoring the first seven for the Tar Heels. P.J. Hairston added 14. … Duke ended up with a 55 percent field goal clip, making 27 of 49 shots. … Andrew Wiggins, the nation’s No. 1 recruit, was on hand for his official visit to North Carolina. He’s also considering Kentucky, Florida State and Kansas.